


It's What He Deserves

by chucknovak



Category: IT - Stephen King, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, intentional tense changes, that's p much it lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-24 04:10:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16632659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chucknovak/pseuds/chucknovak
Summary: Richie Tozier is the president of the "Mike Wheeler Deserves to be Taken Care of and Loved" club and he is taking direct action(In other words, Mike is stressed and Richie makes him feel better) (this is just pure fluff)





	It's What He Deserves

**Author's Note:**

> sometimes you can't think of a title for a fic but you wanna post it before your class so you just use a meme as the title
> 
> also I never write in the present tense so please bear with me lol

Despite being the only child of loving and wealthy parents, Richie Tozier had not been coddled since he was eleven years old. That changed, however, as soon as he met Mike Wheeler. Sure, Mike could be snarky and sarcastic, but the second he sensed Richie was even a little bit upset he did anything he could to make him feel better. Richie didn’t really open up about much, so it took a few months of being friends for Mike to even be able to tell Richie was upset, and even longer to figure out what made him feel better. Still, it only took Mike about six months to figure him out - way quicker than anyone else had taken to do it. Before the year was up they were dating, and eventually Richie started to let Mike take care of him. It was strange, and new, but he could tell Mike loved it, that it made him happy to take care of Richie, to make him happy, and well, who was Richie to deny his boyfriend something that made him happy?

Now, two years later, there’s nothing Richie loves more than coming home and falling into Mike’s caring arms. He just has to pout at his boyfriend and he’s wrapped up in his arms with kisses being pressed to his hair. Sure, depending on the severity of Richie’s bad moods, Mike will definitely still tease him. “Aw, the store didn’t have the cereal you like?” he’ll coo. “What a poor baby. Don’t you worry, I’m here.” But he’ll still press kisses to Richie’s cheeks, playfully smothering him in them until they’re both on the floor giggling so hard they get stitches in their sides. Other times though, when Richie’s genuinely upset, Mike will drop whatever he’s doing to comfort him. He’ll turn on a comfort show and let Richie rest his head in his lap, stroking his fingers through his hair, the way Richie loves. Richie always melts into it, and eventually he’ll tell Mike what’s upsetting him. It’s sometimes hard to hear, as he often does so with his face buried in Mike’s stomach, but Mike always hears him out, he’s always patient with him. And Richie’s favorite part is the soft, slow kisses Mike always presses to his lips and forehead and cheeks.

The only thing is that Mike is still difficult when it comes to letting himself be comforted. Mike is very vocal about everything else - when he’s happy, annoyed, excited, angry, disgusted, unimpressed, doesn’t like something, _does_ like something - whatever it is, Mike makes sure Richie knows about it. But for some reason he still dials his sadness down as much as he can. Richie’s learned to pick up on the cues, but every time he tries to reach out Mike just gives him a forced smile and a kiss and an “I’m fine, baby, it’s not a big deal. Thanks for asking, though. I love you.” And well, that frustrates Richie. He wants to take care of Mike the way Mike takes care of him, but for some reason Mike seems to view that as an impossibility.

The past couple of weeks have been particularly harsh on Mike. His editor has been demanding more chapters than Mike is producing, and it’s been keeping him up at night and in the office late. Still, he’s been insisting that he’s fine, that he’ll power through and feel better once it’s done. But Richie’s decided that he’s going to convince Mike that he deserves to be pampered and coddled once in a while.

Richie got the afternoon off, so he spent it going out to get Mike’s favorite macaroni and cheese from their favorite deli and a carton of his favorite ice cream. He also went to three different stores to find a massage oil Stan had recommended, which he is thrilled to use after dinner. Finally, he also made sure to cue up one of Mike’s favorite comedy specials on Netflix. He even lit a few candles, because he’s _romantic_ , and he’s hoping the scents will help Mike relax.

He’s now waiting anxiously for Mike to get home, the mac n cheese being kept warm in the oven, a playlist of Mike’s favorite feel-good songs playing softly through their small apartment. He nearly jumps when he hears the door open and close. He hears Mike take off his shoes and drop his bag in the entryway. “Richie?” he calls, sounding equal parts tired and confused.

“In the kitchen!” Richie calls back, maybe a little too excited. Mike walks into the room, a crease in his brow as he eyes the set table and the lit candle. Richie walks up to him where he stopped in the doorway and kisses his forehead.

“What’s with the candle?” Mike asks, the small ghost of a smile on his lips.

“I thought it would be calming,” Richie shrugs. “I can blow it out if you want.”

“No, I like it,” Mike assures him with a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Did you make dinner?”

“I’ll try not to be offended by the surprise in your voice.” When Mike raises an eyebrow, Richie has to admit, “Okay, I got some mac n cheese from that deli you like. So I didn’t make it. But I heated it up! Aaaaand, there’s Americone Dream in the freezer!”

Richie’s expecting Mike to scoff at him for his poor cooking skills. He’s maybe expecting a kiss. What he’s not expecting is Mike to look into his eyes, his own wide and disbelieving, and then burst into tears. “Hey, hey,” Richie says, rushing to wrap his arms around his boyfriend. “Hey, it’s okay.” He presses a kiss to Mike’s hair, rubbing his back soothingly. Richie has only seen Mike cry a couple of times, but he’s learned that Mike won’t say anything until he’s let all the tears out and caught his breath. Richie is more than willingly to wait, cooing soft words of comfort into Mike’s ear and softly scratching his back through his shirt and jacket. “It’s okay, baby,” he whispers, kissing Mike’s hair again. Eventually, the sobs slow down and Mike’s grip on Richie’s shirt loosens. It takes another minute after that for Mike to remove his face from Richie’s shoulder and wipe his eyes. Richie kisses his heated cheeks as soon as he gets the chance.

“I’m sorry,” Mike says, his voice still watery and raw.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Richie smiles fondly as he kisses Mike. “You taught me that.” Mike tries out a shaky smile.

“It’s just… you did all this for me?”

“Baby, this is the least I could do for you.” Richie kisses each of his hands before kissing his lips again. “I know you’ve been stressed, so I wanted to help.” Before Mike can protest, Richie continues, “You always make me so happy. I wanna take care of you, too. I wanna be there for you.” For a moment Mike looks like he might start crying again, but instead he kisses Richie, deep and meaningfully. Richie happily reciprocates, holding Mike as close and as tight as he can, his own heart still not fully used to saying something so personal so openly. But Mike helps him with that more and more every day, and he knows that Mike deserves to hear it. Eventually Mike pulls away, his smile looking more genuine.

“Can we have that mac and cheese now?”

“We sure can!” Richie beams. “You just sit your pretty little butt down and let me serve you, honey bunches.” Mike giggles and practically collapses into one of the chairs. Richie dishes the food onto the two plates, but before he sits down he swings his chair around so that it’s right next to Mike’s.

“Hi?” Mike says when Richie sits down and nuzzles his face into Mike’s neck.

“Wasn’t close enough over there,” is all Richie says before he starts feeding Mike the pasta from his plate.

“You’re ridiculous,” Mike grins, but he accepts the food anyway.

“I’m romantic as fuck,” Richie corrects him before shoveling a forkful of macaroni into his own mouth.

“Oh yeah, so charming,” Mike snorts, his own mouth still full of food. Richie kisses Mike’s cheek before even swallowing, so overwhelmed by the urge to do so that he can’t wait even a few seconds. He swallows when Mike tells him he’s gross, then proceeds to plant kisses all across Mike’s cheek, temple, neck, shoulder, and hair.

“How’s it taste?”

“You’d know if you’d stop kissing me and eat your fucking dinner,” Mike chides with no real heat.

“Mm, but you’re already a full three course meal,” Richie grins, nibbling playfully on Mike’s ear. Mike shrieks with laughter, shoving Richie off of him.

“Okay, I will admit I walked right into that one,” Mike grins.

He lets Richie feed him a couple more bites, but insists on feeding himself after that. Still, he lets Richie continue to pepper him with kisses, leaning further and further into his boyfriend as the meal goes on. Once he’s full, he happily lets Richie lead him into the bedroom and lay him down on the bed. “Can I take your shirt off, baby?” Richie asks, pressing soft, small kisses below the curve of Mike’s jaw.

“I’m way too full to do anything right now,” Mike sighs, both tired and content, giving Richie a small, rueful grin.

“I wasn’t talking about that, you pervert,” Richie gasps playfully. Mike rolls his eyes, but doesn’t do much of anything else. His eyes cloud over with a rush of mixed, unreadable emotion when Richie pulls the bottle of massage oil out of the night stand.

“You know how to use that?” Mike teases with a small smile.

“Let’s find out,” Richie grins cheekily. Mike smiles and sits up so that Richie can take his shirt off for him. He then continues to strip Mike down to his boxers and gets some sweatpants for him to put on. Mike lies on his stomach, his arms folded under his pillow and head turned to the side. Richie straddles his hips and pours some oil into his hands, taking a moment to appreciate his boyfriend’s profile as he spreads the oil across his palms. Mike looks as beautiful as always, but there’s still a divot between his eyebrows that Richie is determined to smooth away.

Mike tenses initially as Richie brings his hands to his back, jumping like a live wire. Richie starts with his shoulders, rubbing the oil into them in a circular motion with his hands. He can _feel_ how tense Mike is, and he takes his time gently but thoroughly working the knots out of Mike’s shoulders. His boyfriend relaxes more and more as Richie gradually works down his back, soothing and relaxing the tightly wound muscles. Eventually Mike lets out a small sigh that makes Richie melt, a soft smile on his face as he gazes lovingly down at his boyfriend. As he slides his hands down to Mike’s lower back, he presses kisses along his pale, lightly freckled skin, ignoring the small traces of massage oil left on his lips. “I love you so much,” he murmurs into Mike’s warm skin, nuzzling into his hair briefly.

“I love you, too,” Mike smiles, leaning up on his elbow for a kiss. Richie happily obliges, leaning over him and bringing their lips together.

“You’re fucking tight,” Richie chuckles.

“Yeah, you tell me that every night,” Mike smirks. Richie rolls his eyes.

“I meant your muscles, dumbass.”

“The asshole _is_ a muscle, _dumbass_.”

“You’re a smartass, you know that?”

“I thought you just said I was a dumbass.”

Richie smacks his ass playfully before kissing his cheek. “You know, being an asshole isn’t gonna get you out of this. I’m pampering you tonight and that’s that.” Mike buries his face in his arms then, tensing a bit again. “You’re beautiful, you know that?” Richie murmurs in Mike’s ear, continuing to massage his muscles as though he hadn’t noticed the change. He knew that Mike still struggled to let people take care of him, and calling him out for it in a serious way wasn’t gonna do anything to help. “And so fucking smart and talented.” He kisses Mike’s hair again, grinning into it. “My little breadwinner.” He feels Mike begin to relax again as he scoffs at Richie’s nickname. “It’s true!” Richie insists, getting the last of the kinks out of Mike’s back. “I got me a man who provides - in _many_ ways.” Richie’s heart soars at the soft chuckle Mike let out. “And now _I_ am going to provide _you_ with some quality ice cream straight from Vermont.” Mike flips over the so that he is lying on his back and eyeing his boyfriend in confusion and disbelief.

“You went to Vermont?”

“No,” Richie smirks, “I got some Ben and Jerry’s from Stop and Shop. But I feel like that counts, right?” Mike grins and shakes his head, playfully smacking Richie’s chest. He starts to get up, but Richie gently pushes him back into bed.

“Uh uh,” he says. “You stay right here, I’ll bring it to you.” He can see the protest flash in Mike’s eyes for a moment, but it disappears much faster than Richie expects, and Mike settles back against the pillows with a small, sheepish, but grateful smile on his lips, a smile that warms Richie’s heart.

Richie grabs the two pints of ice cream and two spoons, almost running back to the bedroom he’s that eager to be back with his boyfriend. His heart melts all over again when he finds Mike already asleep in the center of the bed. Richie sets the ice cream down, careful not to let the spoons clink together and wake up Mike. He then gets into his own pajamas, but before he gets into bed he decides to take a picture of Mike - he just looks too cute _not_ to. Unfortunately, his sound is on, so while he gets the picture, the shutter of the camera wakes Mike up. “Asshole,” he grumbles fondly as he realizes both that he dozed off and that Richie had gotten a picture of it. Richie beams proudly as he climbs into bed next to Mike.

“Not my fault you’re the cutest sleeper in the whole goddamn world.”

“That’s fair,” Mike grins, sitting up.

“You still up for some ice cream, sleeping beauty?” Richie teases. “Or do you wanna sleep now and save it for tomorrow?” Mike just makes grabby hands in response. Richie swoons and falls onto the bed, making Mike giggle.

“Give me my ice cream, you fucking drama queen,” he says, smacking Richie playfully.

“I can’t. I’m dead. You’re so cute it killed me.”

“I thought you were pampering me,” Mike shoots back with a kiss to Richie’s forehead.

“Aim those lips a little lower, maybe true love’s kiss with revive me.” Mike scoffs but kisses his boyfriend’s absurdly puckered lips anyway. “See? Works like a charm.” Richie winks then sits bolt upright, startling Mike into a small giggle. Richie retrieves the ice cream and spoons then, which Mike accepts with another kiss. “ _New in Town_ or _Comeback Kid_?” Richie asks, opening up his laptop, which is already opened to Netflix.

“Baby, I really appreciate all you’ve done tonight, but I should really get some work done before-”

“ _Kid Gorgeous_ it is then,” Richie interrupts, clicking on the comedy special.

Mike shoots Richie a bittersweet smile. “Rich-” he starts, but Richie kisses the corner of his lip, gently stopping his protests.

“Mike, angel, you work way too hard. Give yourself one night, okay?” Mike looks at him dubiously, sucking his lower lip into his mouth. It makes Richie’s heart ache to see the man he loves so averse to treating himself to one night of relaxation. “You can sneak off to your computer once I’m asleep if you must,” he jokes, nudging Mike’s shoulder playfully. Mike cracks a smile then and leans into Richie’s side. Richie is smiling as he presses a kiss to Mike’s hair, the two of them settling into the pillows and digging into their ice cream as John Mulaney greets his audience.

Richie’s pleased to find that Mike relaxes more and more as the show plays on, and by the end of it his eyes are drooping despite the fact that it’s barely nine o’clock. Richie grins and kisses him again before putting the ice cream back in the freezer, blowing out the candles, and running the dishwasher. By the time he gets back to bed, Mike is fast asleep. Richie slides in next to him, beaming fondly to himself as Mike half-consciously curls into Richie’s side. “Thanks again for tonight,” Mike whispers, cracking his eyes open. “You really didn’t need to do all of this for me.” He gives his boyfriend a bashful smile.

“Did you feel those knots in your back?” Richie says. “Trust me, I really did need to do this.” Mike grins and nuzzles his face into Richie’s chest. Even their position is progress; Richie usually curls into Mike’s side and lets Mike hold him through the night, so it warms Richie’s heart to see Mike so willing to let Richie hold him.

“Well I really appreciate it.”

“I really appreciate _you_ ,” Richie says with a kiss to Mike’s hair. “And for the record, I was joking earlier when I said you could sneak in work after I fall asleep. That’s definitely not allowed.” Mike rolls his eyes, snuggling further into Richie’s chest.

“How will you know if you’re asleep?”

“I’ll know, and I will drag your ass back into this bed and fall asleep on top of you so you can’t escape.” He pulls Mike closer then, pressing a few kisses to his hair. He sighs; he loves holding his boyfriend in his arms, loves knowing he’s safe, loves making Mike as happy as Mike makes him. “You deserve it, you know,” Richie says, “a break. Some pampering. You work so hard and you’re so good to all the people you love. You deserve to get that kind of hard work and dedicated love back.”

“Don’t make me cry,” Mike says, his voice muffled as he shoves his face into Richie’s chest. Richie chuckles, petting Mike’s hair.

“That’s okay too, if you need to.” His voice is light but sincere.

“I think I just wanna sleep now, but thank you.” Mike raises his head to smile up at Richie. Richie smiles back and kisses his lips.

“You deserve that, too,” he grins into the kiss before pulling Mike back into him and settling back into the pillows. He falls asleep with his lips pressed to Mike’s hair, Mike’s breath soft against his chest, thinking about how lucky he is to have someone like Mike in his life.


End file.
